New Jersey: Steven Rothman Makes Serious Television Buy in New York Market

Rep. Steven Rothman is going big in the last days of his Democratic primary against Rep. Bill Pascrell in New Jersey’s newly drawn 9th district.

His campaign just released a television ad about the environment that is on the air in the expensive New York City market. The money behind it is well into the six figures. Redistricting forced both Members to compete for the same Democratic-leaning seat.

The Rothman ad’s case against Pascrell involves a lawsuit over the cleanup of the district’s Passaic River.

Rothman spokesman Paul Swibinski described the ad as “the ultimate proof that Congressman Rothman is the Democrat’s Democrat.”

But the Pascrell camp responded quickly with a lengthy press release on the advertisement.

“This latest false Rothman ad is a hypocritical mischaracterization of Bill Pascrell’s record that completely ignores Steve Rothman’s record of following Congressman Pascrell’s leadership on cleaning up the Passaic River,” Pascrell campaign manager Justin Myers said in a statement.

The race has garnered the interest of national figures. President Barack Obama’s senior adviser, David Axelrod, recently campaigned in the district on behalf of Rothman. President Bill Clinton will campaign for Pascrell in the Congressman’s hometown of Paterson on Friday.